Why one cask transfer takes three weeks and another takes three months
The warehouse stamp takes a day or three. Nearly all the waiting happens around it, and most of it can start sooner than you think.
Ask a few brokers how long it takes for a cask to land in their name and you'll hear anything from a fortnight to a season. They're all telling the truth. Looking back over a run of recent transfers, the quickest went from payment to the new owner being on the warehouse's record in about three weeks. The slowest took between seven and thirteen weeks.
The warehouse was hardly ever the reason. Once a delivery order reaches a bonded warehouse with every signature on it, it's usually stamped within one to three working days.
Where the time goes
A purchase has more steps than most clients expect.
- You pay, and the payment is matched to your purchase.
- If the cask isn't already in the right warehouse, it's moved there.
- The seller's own purchase is stamped into the seller's account. A seller can't pass on a cask the warehouse doesn't show as theirs.
- Your company's account at that warehouse is opened.
- The delivery order to you is prepared and signed.
- The warehouse stamps it, and you're the registered owner.
Three of those steps cause most of the waiting.
Your warehouse account. A personal account can open within days once the documents are complete. A company account can take six to eight weeks, usually because the first set of documents is missing something. Our note on opening a warehouse account covers what to send.
Moving the cask in. A cask moved on its own usually arrives in about a week. A shared run with other casks costs less, but it can take anywhere from two to eight weeks, and the date tends to slip.
Signatures. Some delivery orders come back signed the same day. Others sit for more than three weeks. The warehouse can't stamp anything until every signature is on it, and storage keeps running while it waits.
Start them together
None of these has to wait for the one before it. Your account can be opening while the cask is on the road and the seller's paperwork is with the warehouse. When all three start on the first day, the longest one sets the pace and the others finish inside it.
What you can do this week
- Start your warehouse account the day your hold is confirmed. Don't wait until you've paid.
- Send every document the warehouse asks for in one go.
- If the cask has to move, choose between a solo move and a shared run quickly, and confirm it in writing.
- Sign and return your delivery order the day it arrives.
- Give your client a realistic timeline before they pay.